Chapter 10
Witch Business Part 2
~ Isabella ~
"So this Jeremy, he's practicing naughty magic that somehow negatively impacts vampires?" Kate queried curiously as she tiptoed precariously back and forth across a large fallen tree as though this was completely normal.
The remaining party, consisting of Isabella and two bickering witches, sat opposite the vampire on small camping chairs, and were updating Kate on the situation. Isabella shifted uncomfortably in her seat, a stray bit of metal was digging into her back and every movement hurt her throbbing wound.
"Basically," Cecile replied with narrowed eyes as the vampire twirled and pranced on her perch with a playful smile on her pretty face, Isabella's lip twitched upward in an almost smile, " blood magic – though it is forbidden among my kind, and the side affect you're referring to derives from the poisoning of nearby humans' blood. Which when fed on by you…" Cecile's judgemental glare was filled with contempt, " allegedly , it can make you lot behave extra savage, if that's believable" Cecile finished dryly.
Kate paused her prancing, though her face remained impassive, Isabella braced herself for the inevitable theatrics only an offended vampire could perform. Instead, and to Isabella's (and definitely Cecile's) surprise, Kate's golden eyes sparkled in amusement, a wry smile tugged her full lips.
" Human blood drinkers, you mean?" Kate corrected rhetorically, unbothered by Cecile's jibe when she punctuated her point with a wide toothy grin, showcasing her elongated white fangs and quietly resumed her pacing along the dead tree trunk.
Cecile pursed her lips, frustrated that her attempt to rile the vampire had failed. She suddenly whipped her head to Isabella who quickly smothered her amused smile with an awkward clearing of her throat and guilty wince.
"Remind me why we need their presence again? This is witch business after all…" Cecile said sounding like a petulant child, as she shifted closer to Isabella, face slightly disgusted.
"Don't worry Sabrina, I only bite when absolutely necessary," Kate interrupted, her sharp fangs glinting as though proving her point, Cecile's mouth dropped open in shock. "usually I'm not so…" she paused, her dark gaze finding Isabella, " clothed" she finished with a cheeky wink.
Isabella's cheeks slowly heated and she briefly wondered whether the demons could be missing someone, as she narrowly eyed Kate – her strong, slender warrior defined muscles flexed as she bent this way and that on the branch with supernatural grace, sunlight danced along her pale skin, reflecting white light to the floor and surrounding trees – and Isabella thought that while the vampire was stunning, as all vampires were designed to be, it was more than that obvious thing, which had her eyes glued to the woman.
In the way she found joy in the little things, like when her exposed skin lit up like a Christmas tree contrasted against the browns and greens of the woodland as she twirled and grinned at the beautiful sight she created – she seemed so…content in her own skin.
She seemed so alive!
Isabella wasn't certain if she was jealous of the easy-going vampire – or simply had the hots for her. Most vampires she met could be so dreary and 'woe is me', not to disregard their emotions or experiences that lead them to behave that way, but, it grew tiresome when she was trying so desperately to forget the lingering pain that hid in her chest. Or perhaps she was simply losing her mind , she thought as she finally averted her gaze with a low sigh.
"Kate is here to help," Isabella repeated towards the fuming witch after her long silence "I think" she muttered and Kate grinned like a feral animal. Cecile merely sat straighter and muttered something unintelligible.
"Cece has a point, I mean I doubt any of us would be in an already dangerous situation, where people could be hurt or killed and think 'oh, I know how to defuse this, let's call a vampire , that'll solve it'" Micah offered with a bashful wince, "they rarely ever help a situation, I mean. Um, but no offence!"' he mumbled with an awkward and nervous shrug. The pink pigment in his cheeks deepened as he swallowed, his eyes pointedly avoiding Kate's general direction.
"Maybe so, but I personally take the lives of humans very seriously, Witch. I suggest you don't forget that fact" she said coolly, it was the first serious statement or response she'd given. And Isabella thought it was both disarming and well, sexy . They settled into an uncomfortable silence before Kate interrupted, "Annnnnyhow, the plan?" Kate's molten gaze fell on Isabella and she shifted, uncomfortable with holding the vampires burning eyes.
Isabella stood, cleared her throat with a low cough and pointedly ignored the protesting pain throbbing from her healing wound.
"Um, right. So the plan …"
~
"…is a fucking disaster" Isabella said through gritted teeth as she paced frantically in the drab hotel room, her eyes blazing green. Orion's gentle nudge was the only comfort which allowed her to unclench her white-knuckled fists.
Kate groaned as she sat rubbing at a few of the visible little cracks that littered her perfect porcelain skin.
"That could've gone better, I'll admit" Kate muttered. Isabella whirled on the nonchalant blonde, whose single raised amused brow rattled Isabella further.
"I fail to see how it could have possibly gone worse!" Isabella hissed, her arms flailing wildly in the air, the sudden movement would certainly aggravate her new wounds of various sizes. Though, they would heal over soon enough.
Kate's breathy giggle had Isabella's eyes flashing in warning. Of course, the vampire ignored her and instead, crossed the room slowly, allowing Isabella to track her deliberate sauntering hips with her bright green eyes. Isabella unconsciously bit her bottom lip as she retreated a step or two, her arms folded across her chest defensively.
She didn't dare breathe as Kate paused before her, her pretty pale face softened as she painfully gently plucked a stray twig from Isabella's hair, a wry smile on her mouth.
Isabella remained absolutely still during the event, and remained so even as Kate slowly pulled her hand away, her unique scent – the mixed botanical scents of daffodils and wild flowers, of the first days of Spring – lingered in Isabella's nose. She didn't dare dwell on the pleasant smell. Neither did she dare move, or breathe too deeply. She was, for all intents and purposes, a statute.
Kate smiled tenderly, almost bashfully, and Isabella cursed herself for the brief flutters it produced low in her stomach. The blonde warrior sauntered back to the single bed in the far corner and plopped her powerful body in the centre of the mattress, her long toned legs tucked underneath her as she sat cross legged, resuming the close inspection of her arms.
This crush is becoming a distraction! She groaned internally. Nevertheless, Orion scoffed in their shared mind - for they were delighted these long ago buried emotions were being (forcibly) resurrected.
She'd not had anything remotely resembling a proper crush since… dark eyes, a confident lopsided grin, copper faux-messy styled hair, tortured soul …Isabella swallowed at the sad memory of her first crush, the tall broody vampire who'd abandoned her as though she were nothing but trash.
She closed her eyes briefly and promptly locked the unwelcome feelings in their boxes, locked away in her heart. Orion's sadness filtered through their shared mind and she shook her head internally. 'I'm sorry, not yet, I'm not ready yet'. She thought to them, and the foreboding sense of 'yet' had her re-clenching her fists into tight balls.
"Well, we could've been killed, now that would've been pretty shitty" Kate finally replied with a toothy half-smile, her fangs long since retracted. The sarcastic lilted voice successfully jolted Isabella from her melancholy memories.
"Unbelievable" she muttered, exasperated humour in the response. Grateful to the vampire all the same for her interruption.
"Shall we have a little recap? For our own sanity?" Kate asked with a pointed look.
"Fine…" Isabella said, energy depleted.
~
3 hours earlier
"Well, this isn't creepy at all " Kate whispered in the quiet hallway, the noise surprising Isabella who had been concentrating on ignoring the unsettling feeling she had in the pit of her stomach as the foursome tentatively crept along a dark hallway. She scrunched her nose at the foul smells that assaulted her senses.
"You're a vampire " Micah spat dryly, though the slight twitch of his mouth gave his amusement away. Kate's golden eyes flickered to him and a close lipped grin decorated her otherwise stoic face before she tilted her head towards a crooked door at the end of the hallway of the abandoned building.
They'd located Jeremy in Germany, though only a 1.5 hour drive from the city of Prague, his energy signature pinged in and around the derelict building nestled deep inside the Bohemian Switzerland nature reserve. The witch had snuck by them through the night, no doubt depleting his remaining energy to do so, which would be beneficial for them except for the fact that he'd crossed into German territory which complicated matters. Isabella sighed through her nose and focused on her steps, on the lingering eerie darkness stretching out to her body, and on the thin crumbling walls surrounding the group – trying desperately to locate a heat signature.
"Ugh what is that…" Cecile was cut off by Kate's low growl. A warning. They each stopped still as statues, hearts (minus Kate's) beating erratically.
Isabella stared at the alert vampire, whose inner beast had transformed her in mere seconds from the easy-going creature the group had started to view her as, to the terrifying supernatural warrior Isabella knew her to be beneath it all. Isabella inhaled sharply and her fist tightened on the hilt of her own rune covered dagger, still sheathed against her thigh.
"Blood" Kate and Isabella muttered simultaneously and Kate's surprised dark gaze fell briefly to Isabella. Though the brunette's green eyes were focused entirely on the dark room before them, so she missed the curious assessment given to her by the powerful vampire representative.
"A lot of it" Kate replied grimly. Isabella knew their forlorn expressions no doubt mirrored one another. Isabella's mind was so preoccupied that she didn't notice Kate had subconsciously stepped slightly closer to her, altering her stance to that of trained protection.
Too lost in the decisions she would be forced to make in mere moments. Would Jeremy see to reason? Would he deserve mercy – he'd killed innocent people? But what right did she have to make these morally ambiguous choices?
She was not invulnerable, she would need to defend herself and those who accompanied her. Witch business it may be and promise or not to Jeremy's brother – she would not allow harm to come to any more people if she had the power to stop it, and she did together with her companions, or so she thought. If Jeremy did not yield his vindictive crusade for more power and witch supremacy. They – no, she – would need to stop him.
In her years since their transition, Isabella and Orion had faced many trials. Some physical and some more psychological. Though she tried desperately to grip her humanity in her decisions, asking herself questions such as those that ran through her mind on a loop presently. Orion claimed it was because of her humanity, and her need to preserve it. To cling to some past version of herself.
Creatures that were once human in her experience and with her specialist knowledge tended to lose themselves. Vampires. Were-Creatures. Even shifters. She didn't want to forget whatever it was that made her, her.
But Isabella was most certainly not human, and though she may find this fact somewhat puzzling given mostly, at this point, she felt the same. She couldn't deny that she was certainly not the same.
Body, soul and mind. Isabella Swan was irrevocably changed – changing every day – and yet, she fought to maintain both her current self and that of her prior human self too. She was not ready to let go. She was afraid that whatever was left after she did would be unrecognisable to even herself – and not all of it was 'good'.
Orion however, knew that their friend would soon learn she did not belong with the humans, as those creatures who changed similarly discovered sooner or later. For her very soul and DNA had been irreversibly altered. It's true, they didn't want her to harden too much, so much so that she became unrecognisable to herself – hated herself.
Orion would never forgive themselves – though they may struggle greatly with expressing and understanding the vast spectrum of heightened emotions their host, and friend experienced – it was apparent that they cared deeply for Isabella Marie Swan.
"Something feels off" Isabella murmured as they resumed their uncertain steps on the concrete floor, growing closer to the door. Kate bristled at the confession, her instincts on high alert, the electricity in her veins charged and ready for combat.
"I feel it too" Kate replied. Micah made to agree before he tripped over his own foot, Kate swiftly caught his elbow and straightened the clumsy man before he could fall. Once more Isabella felt irritated that the untrained witch had managed to get the drop on them in their camp.
Isabella reached the door and with one final glance at her group, she cracked it open and tentatively...
~
AN: Hello!
So, I had to split this into two chapters because it was massive. I hope you enjoyed the insight into Isabella's past, and what some of the many jobs she can do as part of her developing 'role'. Next chapter will be posted immediately as it is the continuation of this one.
The one after will explore the brief Kate/Bella romance before we return to 'present' time with our favourite blonde bombshell.
Please leave me your thoughts and if you have any questions let me know in the comments.